Monthly Archives: June 2017

Trump picks Republican to fill empty commissioner seat at FCC

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Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | Nerthuz)

The Federal Communications Commission’s empty slots are about to be filled. President Donald Trump will nominate Republican Brendan Carr to the FCC’s fifth and final commissioner position, the White House announced last night.

Carr served as FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai’s Wireless, Public Safety, and International Legal Advisor for three years. After Trump elevated Pai to the chairmanship in January, Pai appointed Carr to become the FCC’s general counsel.

“Brendan has a distinguished record of public service, having worked at the agency for over five years, including most recently as the FCC’s General Counsel,” Pai said after the White House announcement. “In particular, Brendan’s expertise on wireless policy and public safety will be a tremendous asset to the Commission.”

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Source: Ars Technica – Trump picks Republican to fill empty commissioner seat at FCC

Windows 10 Snooping: Microsoft Has Halved the Data It Collects from PCs

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France’s data protection commissioner, CNIL, has found that Microsoft collects only half as much data from Windows 10 users now under the “basic” telemetry setting. The agency criticized the company last summer for collecting excessive data and ordered them to comply with the country’s “computing and freedoms” laws, but they are now satisfied, being that the OS now limits its collection of data to the bare minimums required “to maintain the system and applications in good working order and to ensure [users’] safety.”



Microsoft has scaled back the volume of data it collects from Windows 10 PCs by “almost half,” leading French authorities to drop their threat of a fine. The French regulator CNIL today announced that Windows 10 is no longer in breach of the country’s data protection laws, following changes to how the OS handles user privacy. Microsoft had previously faced the threat of a fine of up to 150,000 euro ($158,000) if Windows 10 wasn’t brought into compliance with French data protection rules. Since the notice was issued to Microsoft in July last year, Windows 10 has almost halved the volume of data it collects when the user picks the “basic” telemetry setting, according to a notice issued by CNIL.

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Source: [H]ardOCP – Windows 10 Snooping: Microsoft Has Halved the Data It Collects from PCs

Qualcomm Is Taking Fingerprint Scanners below the Surface

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Apple and Samsung has been struggling to create fingerprint sensors that can work behind touchscreens, but Qualcomm has apparently beat them to the punch: the company revealed their “Qualcomm Fingerprint Sensors” technology during MWC Shanghai, which uses sensors that can scan through 800 micrometers of cover glass, work underwater, and even pick up a person’s heartbeat and blood flow as an extra measure of security. Vivo managed to get first dibs on the technology.



Your fingerprint scanners are going down next summer. As in they’re going below the glass and behind the back of your phone, according to Qualcomm. At Mobile World Congress Shanghai on Tuesday, the chipmaker announced new fingerprint sensors that can work underneath your phone’s display, through metal and glass, and underwater. Qualcomm expects the first commercial devices using fingerprint sensors underneath glass and metal to start selling in early 2018, while sensors that go under the display should show up by the summer of 2018.

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Source: [H]ardOCP – Qualcomm Is Taking Fingerprint Scanners below the Surface

Genre-Blending Genius Edgar Wright Talks Ant-Man, Baby Driver and Grand Theft Auto

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At first glance, Baby Driver doesn’t look like it uses genre conventions in the way that Edgar Wright’s other works have. While you can easily see the homages to zombie horror and paranoid sci-fi in Shaun of the Dead and World’s End, the fusion at the heart of Baby Driver’s DNA is initially more elusive to parse. But…

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Source: Gizmodo – Genre-Blending Genius Edgar Wright Talks Ant-Man, Baby Driver and Grand Theft Auto

Western Digital Launches New My Passport Ultra HDDs: New Enclosure, Up to 4 TB

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Western Digital this week refreshed its My Passport Ultra lineup of small form-factor external HDDs. The new hard drives use a new enclosure and come with software that backs up data not only from local PCs, but also from social networks and cloud services. As for capacity and interfaces, the new HDDs continue to offer up to 4 TB of storage space and utilize a USB 3.0 interface.


The new WD My Passport Ultra external HDDs come in a new metallic enclosure with metallic and matte black gray or white gold finishes that mimics design of other external storage devices by the company. The 1 TB drive uses a thinner enclosure that measures 13.5 mm (0.53”), whereas the models with 2 TB, 3 TB and 4 TB capacities are 21.5 mm (0.85”) thick.



Apart from the new enclosure, the new HDDs feature automatic WD Backup software for local data and content, as well as the company’s new WD Discovery software that backs up users’ data from Facebook, Instagram, Dropbox and Google Drive. By using both software suites, users can consolidate their data from different sources on a single device. Meanwhile, to protect the data, Western Digital offers its WD Backup software that relies on AES-256 hardware encryption.


Western Digital is not disclosing whether they’re using PMR or SMR technology on the hard drives contained within. Nor are we able to accurately guess the number of platters in the drives, as the thickness of the external enclosures means it’s impossible to determine whether the company is using 2.5”/12.5 mm or 2.5”/15 mm HDDs.












List of WD’s 2017 My Passport Ultra Drives
Capacity   Model Dimensions

H×W×T		 Interface Compatibility Color
4 TB WDBFKT0040BGD-WESN 110×81.5×21.5 mm

4.33×3.21×0.85 inch		 USB

3.0/2.0		 Windows 7, 8.1, 10.


Requires formatting

for other OSes.

 White-Gold
WDBFKT0040BGY-WESN Black-Gray
3 TB WDBFKT0030BGY-WESN Black-Gray
WDBFKT0030BGD-WESN White-Gold
2 TB WDBFKT0020BGY-WESN Black-Gray
WDBFKT0020BGD-WESN White-Gold
1 TB WDBTLG0010BGY-WESN 110×81.5×13.5 mm

4.33×3.21×0.53 inch		 Black-Gray
WDBTLG0010BGD-WESN White-Gold

Just like their predecessors, the new Western Digital My Passport Ultra drives are covered by a three-year limited warranty. The new drives are available from wd.com as well as from select retailers around the world. The most affordable 1 TB version costs $79.99, whereas the highest-capacity SKU is available for $139.99, which is $20 lower than the My Passport Ultra HDD 4 TB released a year ago.



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Source: AnandTech – Western Digital Launches New My Passport Ultra HDDs: New Enclosure, Up to 4 TB

Hacks Raise Fear Over NSA's Hold on Cyberweapons

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Nicole Perlroth, and David Sanger, writing for The New York Times: Twice in the past month, National Security Agency cyberweapons stolen from its arsenal have been turned against two very different partners of the United States — Britain and Ukraine. The N.S.A. has kept quiet, not acknowledging its role in developing the weapons (alternative source). White House officials have deflected many questions, and responded to others by arguing that the focus should be on the attackers themselves, not the manufacturer of their weapons. But the silence is wearing thin for victims of the assaults, as a series of escalating attacks using N.S.A. cyberweapons have hit hospitals, a nuclear site and American businesses. Now there is growing concern that United States intelligence agencies have rushed to create digital weapons that they cannot keep safe from adversaries or disable once they fall into the wrong hands. On Wednesday, the calls for the agency to address its role in the latest attacks grew louder, as victims and technology companies cried foul. Representative Ted Lieu, a California Democrat and a former Air Force officer who serves on the House Judiciary and Foreign Affairs Committees, urged the N.S.A. to help stop the attacks and to stop hoarding knowledge of the computer vulnerabilities upon which these weapons rely.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.



Source: Slashdot – Hacks Raise Fear Over NSA’s Hold on Cyberweapons

This Discounted Hue Bloom Accent Light Can Paint Your Walls With Color

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You’re probably familiar with the color-changing Hue lights that screw into your existing lamps and light fixtures, but if you really want to paint your rooms with color, you’ll want to pick up a few Hue Bloom accent lights as well.

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Source: Gizmodo – This Discounted Hue Bloom Accent Light Can Paint Your Walls With Color

June 29, 2007: Waiting at the San Francisco and Cincinnati Apple Stores on iDay

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Ten years ago today, folks like our own Lee Hutchinson waited (in line or online) for the first iPhone’s formal release. We’ve been examining the product’s impact all week as it turns 10, and today we couldn’t help but resurface our version of those infamous “look at that line, tho” stories from a decade ago. These pieces originally ran on June 29, 2007.

CINCINNATI, Ohio—Everyone else is covering the iPhone line in budding metropoli (is that a word?) such as New York City, San Francisco, and Chicago. I hear there were 50+ people in line for the iPhone at the Michigan Avenue Apple Store in downtown Chicago as of 5am. Well, we thought we’d do something different (OK, maybe we had to because we were going to that darn wedding later) and cover iPhone line-waiters in a slightly less popular city… the budding metropolis of Cincinnati, Ohio.

I used to live in Cincinnati, and so I was familiar with the landscape when I arrived. I showed up at Kenwood Towne Center Mall at 7:45am Eastern Time, expecting at least 20 people to be in line. This is what I saw when I got there.

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Source: Ars Technica – June 29, 2007: Waiting at the San Francisco and Cincinnati Apple Stores on iDay

If Michelangelo Made Mistakes They'd Look Like This Liquid Paper Masterpiece

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YouTube’s Draw with Jazza, also known as Josiah Brooks, is a talented artist who occasionally challenges himself to only work with random office supplies. For his latest piece he worked exclusively with Liquid Paper, a white, fast-drying paint once used to correct mistakes on an ancient device known as a typewriter.

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Source: Gizmodo – If Michelangelo Made Mistakes They’d Look Like This Liquid Paper Masterpiece

The NES30 Pro Is the Perfect Portable Controller for the Nintendo Switch

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Nintendo put a great deal of thought into the design of the Switch with the exception of the alternative Pro Controller, which feels like an afterthought. It might be official, and a perfect way to play Nintendo Switch games on a TV, but it comes with a steep price tag, and a bulky design that flies in the face of…

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Source: Gizmodo – The NES30 Pro Is the Perfect Portable Controller for the Nintendo Switch

Jezebel John Mayer Doesn’t Want to Talk About Having Sex With Katy Perry | Deadspin The Rockets Migh

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Jezebel John Mayer Doesn’t Want to Talk About Having Sex With Katy Perry | Deadspin The Rockets Might Not Be Done Making Moves | The Root Off-Duty Ill. Cop ‘Detained’ Black Teen For Not Following Orders, Lansing Police Say | Fusion California Gives a Giant Middle Finger to Monsanto |

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Source: Gizmodo – Jezebel John Mayer Doesn’t Want to Talk About Having Sex With Katy Perry | Deadspin The Rockets Migh

AMD EPYC 7601 CPU Hammers SiSoft Sandra Benchmark Database With 32 Cores And 64 Threads

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AMD EPYC 7601 CPU Hammers SiSoft Sandra Benchmark Database With 32 Cores And 64 Threads
It feels a little weird to write about performance results for AMD’s EPYC processors and not have to tie the word “leak” into it. As we covered just last week, AMD has finally unleashed its hugely anticipated EPYC processor line for the server market, and to say it’s long overdue would be a gross understatement.

There is no doubt that Ryzen

Source: Hot Hardware – AMD EPYC 7601 CPU Hammers SiSoft Sandra Benchmark Database With 32 Cores And 64 Threads

This Real Life Iron Man Is Only a Superhero on Laundry Day

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Those blockbuster Marvel movies only show our favorite superheroes when they’re out saving the world. If you want a glimpse of what heroes like Iron Man do the rest of the time, look no further than this incredibly articulated humanoid robot called TEO, who’s recently learned to iron clothing.

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Source: Gizmodo – This Real Life Iron Man Is Only a Superhero on Laundry Day

Tom Wheeler defends Title II rules, accuses Pai of helping monopolists

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Enlarge / Then-FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in 2015. (credit: Getty Images | Bloomberg)

Former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler spoke out against the FCC’s proposed repeal of net neutrality rules this week, saying the repeal will help monopoly broadband providers abuse their dominant position.

There’s “a monopoly provider for three-quarters of the homes in America, and no choice,” Wheeler said in a forum (video) in Arlington, Virginia Monday hosted by US Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.). “When you’ve only got one provider, who makes the rules? The provider makes the rules.”

Wheeler was referring to FCC data that shows most Americans live in areas with either one provider of high-speed broadband (at least 25Mbps downstream and 3Mbps upstream) or none at all.

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Source: Ars Technica – Tom Wheeler defends Title II rules, accuses Pai of helping monopolists